Construction work for a new development in Windisch, Switzerland has turned up a puzzling archaeological find: a Roman soldier’s cooking pot, filled with 22 small oil lamps, each containing a coin.
Finding Roman leavings in the area wasn’t very surprising; the area is known to have been the site of the Roman town and military camp of Vindonissa until about 101 AD. But the pot and its contents raise more questons.
Each lamp is decorated with an image: the moon, a gladiator, a lion, an erotic scene, etc. Each contains a low-value bronze coin from about 66 AD.
Georg Matter, the cantonal archaeologist, believes it’s a ritual burial of some sort, but can’t be sure because no similar find has happened before.
